Tales of a Trophy Wife: The Best Thing I Ever Blogged: We Like to Learn as We Go

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Best Thing I Ever Blogged: We Like to Learn as We Go

I'm so excited to be a part of The Best Thing I Ever Blogged About here on Tales of a Trophy Wife!

A few things about me - my name is Alexis. My husband and I have been married for 2 years and we have a beautiful 8 month old girl. We've learned a lot in the short time we've been married and thought it would be a good idea to write a book about all the things newlyweds need to know. But I decided to start with my blog We Like to Learn as We Go to share the things I learn every day as a wife, mom, crafter, and cook. It's a very fun journey!

Probably the best thing I ever blogged about was my Applique Fall Pillow. I was so proud when I finished it! It matches great with our living room and it was a pretty big hit among the blogs I linked up to. It isn't my most viewed, but I definitely think it should be. So here's my original post on my Applique Fall Pillow.

I was in the mood for more pillows in my house so I decided to make a felt flower pillow which I showed last week and then this applique fall pillow! I love fall decorations!

I was inspired by a pillow I found on pinterest, but I wanted to make it more fallish. So I looked up some fall leaves on google and came up with this design. I love it and it matches great with our decor. Here's how I did it.

Materials:

Scrap fabric
Wonder Under
17 x 17, 17 x 12, and 17 x 9 pieces of fabric
White Thread
Iron
Scissors
Construction Paper
Pins
16 x 16 pillow
Sewing Machine

I started with some scrap material that I thought went well together and a sheet of Wonder Under. It's important that all the Wonder Under is covered (I learned this the hard way and some of it stuck to my iron...). Since my fabric didn't line up exactly, I just cut them all out individually.

Here's the example of the leaf I used. I cut out the design on card stock first and made sure all the material was wide and long enough for it. I ended up using 15 leaves.

Here are the individual material pieces. Then I ironed each one on the wonder under. Then I peeled it off quickly so the adhesive wouldn't reapply itself.

Once you've pulled off the wonder under, use your pattern to cut out the leaves. I also free handed a tree trunk.

Place all the items on the 17 x 17 piece of material and iron it again so that all the pieces adhere to the fabric.

Sew around each item with white thread. You can use an applique stitch if you have it or a straight stitch. For this project I chose just to use a straight stitch. You can see an example of an applique stitch on my applique burp cloths.

Then get your 17 x 12 and 17 x 9 pieces and fold one side a half inch and then a half inch again and iron it down. Then sew down the side.

Now take your finished appliqued tree and pin it right sides together to the 17 x 12 and 17 x 9 pieces so that the hemmed pieces are in the middle. Place the smaller piece on the inside. Then sew around the entire edge.

Stuff in the pillow and here you have your applique fall pillow!

Thanks again for the guest post Tales of a Trophy Wife! I'm excited to see you all over at my blog for some more fun ideas!

- Alexis

A big huge thank-yo to Alexis for sharing her pillow (I heart cute pillows). If you have a favorite post that you would like to share and toot your own horn, please write it up and send me the html code (lilbirdz1@yahoo.com). I will publish them in the order that I receive them.